KIP TURNER SELECTED IN EXPANSION DRAFT

ANNAPOLIS, MD– The Chesapeake Bayhawks of Major League Lacrosse (MLL) strengthened their defense with goalie Kip Turner and defenseman Brian Spallina in the MLL Expansion Draft on Wednesday. Although the draft saw the majority of action from the two new MLL expansion teams, the Charlotte Hounds and the Ohio Machine, Chesapeake received the 13th overall pick as a result of a trade last month.

The Expansion Draft allowed the Hounds and the Machine to build their rosters from current teams’ unprotected player lists and the MLL player pool. Once teams lost three players, they were able to pull back one player. For each subsequent player lost, the team was allowed to pull back another player. After six players were lost, no more players could be taken off a team’s roster and all undrafted players from the 23-man rosters were returned to the original team or placed back in the player pool.

The Bayhawks chose Turner with their only pick in the Expansion Draft. A Maryland native, Turner graduated from the University of Virginia in 2007 and played 37 games for the Boston Cannons from 2007-2011. The 2010 MLL Goalie of the Year hails an 18-10 record and was a member of the 2011 MLL championship team.

“I will miss all my great friends, coaches, and fans from Boston, but I am excited for the new journey ahead with the Bayhawks,” Turner explained. “I couldn't be more excited to play in my hometown.”

A late draft trade with the Machine added Spallina to Chesapeake’s roster and gave the Bayhawks a 4th round MLL Collegiate Draft pick. In exchange, the Machine received Chesapeake’s 3rd round pick in the MLL Collegiate Draft.

Spallina is a veteran of the league drafted in the 12th round, 70th overall in the 2001 Inaugural Tram Draft by Long Island. He played most of his career with the Lizards with the exception of a 4 season stint with the Philadelphia Barrage. A two-time All-Star, Spallina holds the MLL career record 117.5 penalty minutes, has tallied 127 ground balls, and has played 107 games in the MLL.

Chesapeake was able to pull midfielders Steven DeNapoli andDan Hardy and defenseman Dan Hostetler back to their roster after 3 players were selected by other teams. Once the Expansion Draft ended, the Bayhawks returned goalie Chris Garrity to their protected list, bringing the roster to 18 players. Despite the improvements to the roster, Chesapeake endured some losses in defenseman Jake Deane, attackman Ryan Hurley, goalie Brian Phipps, and midfielder Justin Smith.

“We are very happy with the way the expansion draft played out,” general manager Brian Reese stated. “We figured we would lose quality players, which we did, but we were able to retain Hostetler, Hardy and DeNapoli. They are guys that can definitely make an impact on the team and be very good players in the league. In addition, we also got a proven goalie in Kip Turner and a great leader and veteran on the defensive end, Brian Spallina. We believe we came out of this draft in great shape and look forward to getting everyone out on the field together.”

Bayhawks 2012 season tickets and Hawks Holiday Packs can be purchased online at www.thebayhawks.comor over the phone by calling the box office 866-99-HAWKS (42957). Reserve your seat today and don’t miss out on seeing the Chesapeake Bayhawks battle at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium this summer.